Plan for Even More Crowds This Month at Walt Disney World

This February is shaping up to be a busy month at Walt Disney World with multiple special events taking place around the resort, school vacation weeks across the country, and more. We’re outlining everything that’s going on at Disney World this month so you can plan your visit around the extra crowds.

Walt Disney World experienced a very busy January this year, and the crowd calendar seems to be trending high through the end of this month. What is typically one of the slower times of the year, our January visit to Disney World proved that the parks are perhaps more crowded than ever.

Coming up this weekend, the UCA National High School Cheer Championship will be taking place at ESPN Wide World of Sports on Walt Disney World property. The competition runs February 11-13, 2022, with thousands of cheerleaders and their family and friends staying at Disney resort hotels and visiting the parks, especially the Magic Kingdom as many Guests with limited time tend to do, while they are not competing.

Student groups and their families typically stay at Disney value resorts, particularly Disney’s All-Star Resorts, so if you are staying at All-Star Movies or All-Star Music this weekend, you may find larger crowds at the pool, waiting at the bus stop, and at food courts. (Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort would normally be impacted, too, however, this resort is not reopening until March 31, 2022.)

If it is possible for you to rent or drive your own car to drive to your next theme park from those resorts this weekend, it may help minimize your time getting there as lines for the buses can be long when full teams are ahead of you. For dining at these resorts, we recommend mobile ordering all food, and note that you may still find an extra wait depending on crowd levels at the time.

Super Bowl LVI takes place this Sunday, February 13, 2022, and while the event is not taking place near Walt Disney World, the Super Bowl can draw crowds to Disney resorts, and to the parks for the weekend as many people take the Monday after the Super Bowl off from work. Following the Super Bowl, during the “I’m Going to Disney World/Disneyland!” ad, the winning MVP is invited to go to a Disney park to celebrate. With this year’s Super Bowl taking place in Los Angeles, we believe the event will take place at Disneyland, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Later this month, we expect a number of Guests to plan a Walt Disney World trip around the Presidents Day long weekend (February 21, 2022.) Bookending the other end of that week, you have the Disney Princess Half-Marathon Weekend, running from February 24-27, 2022.

During the Disney Princess Half-Marathon, an influx of thousands of participants, volunteers, and spectators will be visiting Walt Disney World between races. While road closures are typically minimally noticeable to everyday Guests during runDisney events, they may be scheduled for early in the morning on race days. Additionally, your resort may be more crowded than usual as runners are encouraged to stay on Disney property.

On top of all of the above, the final two weeks in February are typically school vacation weeks for schools in various parts of the country including the northeast, which is where a high number of visitors to Walt Disney World and Florida, in general, are traveling from, particularly in the winter months.

The last week of February that serves as school vacation week for much of New England also runs right into the first week of March, which is spring break for many colleges. The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival also kicks off March 2, 2022 (and runs through July 4), and while we do not expect the entire festival to have crowds that are out of hand, the beginning of any EPCOT festival usually draws high crowds.

As for Disney Park Pass Reservation availability, reservations are available for all Walt Disney World theme parks through the end of this month at the time of this writing. Without knowing what capacity is set at in the parks at this point, and with all of the events taking place this month, it seems safe to assume that open availability for reservations does not equate to a low crowd level. Remember, Disney Springs will likely see a higher crowd level as well, as the area is a popular location for Guests on travel days or who are not looking to use a park ticket. The best time to visit Disney Springs on crowded days is earlier in the morning.

Slow seasons are harder and harder to come by at Walt Disney World, and the heavy crowds combined with pent-up demand following COVID-19 restrictions are certainly giving us a busy start to 2022 at the theme parks. If you are visiting during this time, be sure to alter your touring plan ahead of time and make advanced reservations, consider using Disney Genie, and arrive early at the parks when you can to beat some of the crowds in the morning.

We’ll keep you updated here on Disney Fanatic as we learn more about upcoming crowd levels at Walt Disney World, and we hope to see more moderate crowds soon!